Question

In the midst of the prayer a fly had lit on the back of the pew in front of him and tortured his spirit by calmly rubbing its hands together, embracing its head with its arms, and polishing it so vigorously that it seemed to almost part company with the body, and the slender thread of a neck was exposed to view; scraping its wings with its hind legs and smoothing them to its body as if they had been coat-tails; going through its whole toilet as tranquilly as if it knew it was perfectly safe. As indeed it was; for as sorely as Tom's hands itched to grab for it they did not dare—he believed his

Answer 1

would be instantly destroyed if he did such a thing while the prayer was going on.

In a response of two to three complete sentences explain why the fly described in this excerpt would have been in danger? Remember to use supporting details from the text.

Answer 2

hmm...well the fly would have been in danger if Tom would have grabbed him...but Tom feared that if he grabbed him during prayer, he would be in trouble.
sorry..not sure how to answer this one...also, in the passage...something is missing...
" they did not dare. He believed his what would be instantly destroyed " ?

Answer 3

The fly would have been in danger if Tom didn't care about (whatever it is that would be destroyed ).

Answer 4

I think Tom wanted to grab the fly with his hands but was afraid that if he stopped praying God would smite him.